Since having my daughter home with her severely sprained ankle she’s back to being dependent on me, again. It’s been quite some time since she needed my support in this way. Today I had to help her wash her hair. Now that’s something I haven’t had to do in a really long time. The hardest part for her is allowing herself to ask for help. I think a lot of us are like that.

There’s nothing wrong with admitting you need some help now and then. For me a journal acts as a supporting friend. This friend will hear anything I have to say and not pass any kind of judgment. Even really well meaning friends will offer advice, even if they don’t expect you to take that advice. A journal won’t say anything, just listen. I need someone to listen to me, often. I can rant and rave in there. Weep all over the pages if necessary. I can be boring and tell all my secrets, because the journal won’t say anything back.

That is, not until I reread those pages. This is when the journal speaks back to me, in volume. If I’m boring, consistently and not sharing what’s going on in my mind, I take note and am sure to write more personal content. I review the personal content, too. Am I sticking with the same issues or am I finding solutions?

Sometimes even journal writers need support. That’s what this blog is for. There are fantastic books available on the topic, groups to join & courses you can take. So, when you feel you need some support with your journal writing ask your questions here, if you like, or seek other like-minded people in a journal writing group online. And remember; don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Heather
Photo used with permission from Morguefile

Post from: Blisstree

Needing Support

The older I get the more I tend to worry, just a little, about keeping my memory. Perhaps that is one reason I keep a journal. I read an article yesterday how doodling can help memory. All the time I thought the doodling I often engaged in was showing how distracted I really was. All this time it’s been an aid to remembering the details of all those boring phone calls. I tended to doodle instead of taking proper notes in school, too. I always wondered why I still managed to have such good recall later about those same notes. I tend to doodle on the corners of pages, even in my regular journal.

Do you doodle? Do you doodle in your journal? Do you keep a doodle journal? Will you make an effort to doodle while note taking or while on the phone? Please leave any comments in the section below.

Heather
Photo is my own

Post from: Blisstree

Doodling Good for Memory

I don’t know if you’ve ever had this experience, but today I purchased some beads. When I got them home they looked completely different to how they did in the store. Why did this happen? All because of a little thing called light. I went back to the store and found the entire shop lit from the lovely afternoon sun. All the type of beads I’d selected had clearly defined differences in colour, where before I’d had trouble telling them apart. Lesson learnt; only shop there in the afternoon.

This is a lesson we can learn about journal writing, too. A lot of the journal writing prompts I provide, in particular the Freaky Friday prompts, are about attempting to see your own life in a different light. Why do we need to do this? Sometimes we get into a pattern in our daily lives. For the most part there’s nothing wrong with patterns, but the daily grind can prevent seeing life in a fresh way. It pays to stop and take a few steps up, or down, or simply to turn back to where you’ve just been. Even imaging what lies ahead can be helpful.

You can benefit from seeing your life under a different light, too. This will help you see things you hadn’t seen before. Please, take the time to look at some of the prompts, or make up your own, and gain a fresh look at your life through seeing your life under a different light.

Heather
Photo used with permission from Morguefile

Post from: Blisstree

A Different Light

So I thought it was even better when the couple who served me in one of my favourite cafés didn’t communicate too well and I ended up with two coffees. They just let me have the second one free, which was sweet of them. I got to spend longer writing in my journal, which was a bonus, too. Here’s a photo. I just happened to have my camera as I was snapping photos of the little guy on his first day.

Heather
Photo is my own

Post from: Blisstree

Don’t You Love Freebies?

Creativity Portal are creating a new daily prompt called 365 Pictures and they’re calling for your entries. Details on how to enter & what to submit are on their website. I sure hope you take advantage of this call to enter some of your photos. It’s a great way to get a little extra exposure for your own work, too, as you will be able to have a link to your website or blog. Even if you don’t enter, there will be yet another cool place to find prompts for your journal writing.

Heather
Photo used with permission from stock.xchng

Post from: Blisstree

Call for Entries – Creativity Portal

I received a couple of journals for Christmas, which I shared with you in a photo in a previous entry. Well, today I began writing in the purple Smiggle one. It’s so lovely. But I wasn’t able to give it special time for my usual starting ritual. I’ll have to put that off until I can have a moment alone. I had to fit in an entry with the little guy wiggling all over the seat next to me and going on about his tummy. This isn’t normal behaviour, so I made the journal entry a quick one and hope to get some time for a proper beginning to my lovely new journal.

Please leave any comments in the section below.

Heather
Photo is my own

Post from: Blisstree

Starting My Smiggle Journal

I just love reading about experiments using journal or diary writing. Scientist have found keeping a diary can help the body recover from injuries. I blogged about a similar experiment some time ago, which showed how journal writing heals wounds faster. I think it’s amazing that journal writing not only works on healing inner wounds but on physical ones.

I know that since I’ve been committed to journal writing on a regular basis I don’t fall ill anywhere near as often as I once did. Do you have any stories that back up what the experts are learning? Please share any swifter healing stories in the section below.

Heather
Photo used with permission from stock.xchng

Post from: Blisstree

Journal Writers Heal Faster

Well, it’s been 2009 for quite some time now. I’ve spent the morning having a sleep in, reading and lolling about in the air-conditioned bedroom chatting with my daughter. It’s been a pretty quiet way to start the year, but that’s ok with me. I don’t get many days of relaxation where no one expects much from me.

Last night we watched some fireworks off in the distance & some the locals popped off in their backyards. Hubby and I held each other out on the verandah and kissed as the neighbours counted the New Year in. We enjoyed the cool breeze that had finally blown in to freshen up the summer haze that sat over us all day.

How did you see in the New Year? Whatever you did I hope you enjoyed yourself. Happy New Year to all my readers. Please leave any comments in the section below.

Heather
Photo used with permission from Morguefile

Post from: Blisstree

Hello 2009

It’s that time of year when people start thinking about naming resolutions to make for the coming new year. I know what usually happens around our place when it comes to resolutions, most likely the same thing that happens to your resolutions; they go nowhere. Good intentions are a great place to start, but this is where most resolutions end. So, how do we get ourselves over that obstacle of intent & turn it into action?

I believe your journal holds the key. The end of the year is a perfect time to spend rereading your journal, in particular this past year. Read with purpose. Look for the issues you return to over & over again. Note these in your current journal, or notepaper, so you can journal about it afterwards. Spend time writing reflectively on these topics. How ready are you for change in these areas? Are you willing to make some slight alteration in your habits? If you are ready, weigh up what the change would bring to your life. Perhaps you only need to change one thing.

If you are ready plan a course of action. Taking the example of losing weight, instead of making your resolution as vague and broad as simply losing weight, make a much more specific and achievable statement in your journal. Perhaps how much weight you plan to lose for the year, but even that can be off-putting. We all want to achieve such a goal instantly and can lose motivation when it comes to actually reaching this goal. So, perhaps your resolution could be to stop snacking after a certain time of night, to eliminate/moderate a certain unhealthy food from your diet, or to add to or begin a regular exercise programme.

Whatever resolution/s you create for the coming year, aim at making them achievable, something you really want, & something you have found is an important issue for you from rereading your journal. Weight loss is only an example. Some of you might want to change negative behaviour, habits or create more positive attitudes in your life.

Please leave any comments in the section below.

Heather
Photo used with permission from stock.xchng

Post from: Blisstree

Real Resolutions

While writing in my journal today I noticed just how close I’m getting to those last few pages. I have journals here I can use, but I’m really hoping my family take my hints and buy me another of those gorgeous handmade journals I purchased a while ago. Mmm, it appears those journals are no longer available. No wonder I couldn’t find one last time I looked. Well, that makes me sad now. I might have to investigate someone else who makes journals by hand. That way I can get exactly what I want in a journal.

What about you? Are you hoping for a new journal as a Christmas gift? Let me know the places you buy yours or hope your family & friends will shop. Please leave any comments in the section below.

Heather
Photo used with permission from Newscom

Post from: Blisstree

Close to the End